CHAPTER 11
A blinding white light. The smell of cleaning chemicals. A static-y voice droning through the air.
Neru's vision was blurry, and the room swam around her when she tried to sit up. Her head felt as if it was being pushed to one side. She felt a pressure built up in her head from something she knew but couldn't quite place her finger on. Her throat was dry and felt like sandpaper as she breathed in a breath. She opened her mouth and felt her lips crack. She licked her lips, but her tongue was also dry. She turned her head as slowly as possible, trying not to dizzy herself further. She saw a clear glass of water on a small table next to the bed she was laying in.
She reached her hand toward the glass. It was shaking uncontrollably. She tried to steady it to no avail, and ended up picking up the glass with a shaking hand. She brought it to her lips, and the lip of the cup banged against her teeth before the lukewarm water met her lips. Her shaking hand spilled half the water in the cup down the front of her white shirt. The half of the water that made it into her mouth quenched her thirst enough that she could start to think.
She used her shaky hand to rub her eyes until she could clearly see the room she was in. directly across from her was a picture of two smiling children playing a game of tag. Neru rubbed her eyes again trying to make sure that was what she had seen. It was. On another one of the walls was a picture of a black paint splatter. It reminded Neru of a blood splatter.
She shifted in the bed she was lying in, the rough blanket scratching her feet, which she surprisingly found to be bare when she flung the blanket off of herself. She also found herself to be wearing lose fitting white cotton pants. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand. She wobbled and nearly fell forward before she collapsed onto the floor, her legs too weak to support her. Her vision blurred and her head swam again. She firmly grabbed the edge of the small table with one hand and the edge of the bed with the other and tried to lift herself with her shaking arms.
Neru could feel the muscles in her arms twitching and pulling tight as her arms started to lift her up off the floor. She felt the table start to shift under her weight, and heard the breaking glass before she saw the broken glass skater across the floor. She pushed herself harder trying to get back onto the bed as her vision started to blur again. She groaned with the effort she was exerting.
She lifted herself high enough that her chest touched the edge of the bed. She breathed out, and then took a deep breath in. she started to put her feet under her to help her climb onto the bed and felt some of the tension leave her arms. Neru felt a sharp pang in her temple and had to resist putting her hand to her head until it subsided. She prepared to start lifting herself onto the bed when she felt cold air on the back of her neck.
She heard the door behind her open and someone's sudden intake of breath.
"Neru?!" a young woman's voice cried out behind her.
Neru's arms suddenly gave out. She realized she was going to fall before she actually felt gravity start to pull her to the ground. She felt her shoulders hit the ground first and the air rushed out of her lungs as her head smacked against the ground, blackening her vision.